The city of Houston has a familiar errand at the top of its legislative agenda in 2013: tweaking state law to bring city of Houston firefighters' pension under greater local control through a process known as "meet and confer," similar to that agreed to by police and municipal employee pension boards.

Having the firefighters' pension business controlled from Austin rather than at City Council is largely the work of the state Sen. Mario Gallegos, a retired firefighter who fought fiercely to protect his mates' benefits. It is one of Gallegos' major legacies as a lawmaker, but not one that should be preserved or protected. Indeed, changing the way this pension business is handled has the urgency of a four-alarm fire for Houston city taxpayers.

Under the circumstances, you would think that members of the Houston delegation to the Legislature would be lined up to bring this important city business back where it belongs - in council chambers at Houston City Hall.

You would be wrong. Mayor Annise Parker could not recruit a single member of the delegation to carry such a bill in the 2011 session, and her luck isn't any better so far in 2013.

Shame on the Houston delegation. There ought to be 20 hands up to sign on as co-sponsors of this legislation. Why aren't there? Good question. One veteran lawmaker told the Chronicle editorial board that he had never once heard a complaint about public pensions from a taxpayer - and that he heard regularly from representatives of the pension boards.

Taxpayers need educating, and pronto. The city's liability for public employee pensions is the single largest threat to this area's economic future. If not dealt with effectively, it could result in billions of dollars in unfunded liabilities owed by - guess who? - city of Houston taxpayers.

Essentially, this means rewriting state law to return control over pension benefits so that the city can exert local control over costs. In the firefighters' case, that would mean sitting across the table and negotiating more affordable pension terms for new hires. The employees' pension boards could still manage investments.

If Houston taxpayers need a nudge to become more interested in this subject, they can meditate on the huge liabilities potentially involved. And for what it's worth, we offer the following analogy from a close observer that might be of help.

If the city's public employee pensions could be compared to a building, then under the current system more control is given to the bricklayers (pension officials) than to either the architects (city officials) or the building's owners (taxpayers).

We hope Mayor Parker finds a sponsor or ten in the Houston delegation to get this matter resolved. We call on the dean of the Texas Senate, Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, to do his part and ask Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, a Houstonian, to lend a hand.

Time's wasting on this issue. The city of Houston's fiscal health and the region's economic growth are both on the line. Houston taxpayers should demand action in Austin now.